Advancing Scholars in Successful Undergraduate Research Experiences (ASSURE)

该项目旨在通过调查社区大学生参与科学研究与他们的学业成就和学位完成之间的关系来服务于国家利益。具体地说，该项目将评估新的研究型课程的影响，以及社区大学学生在化学科学方面的实践研究经验。这些变化预计将提高学生的参与度、保留率、学位完成率和社区学院的转校率。具体目标是：(1)提高普通化学和有机化学的毕业率，(2)增加转学到四年制大学的Latinx STEM学生的比例，(3)通过包括真实研究经验、转学研讨会和电子辅导在内的支持，促进学生转学后的成功。该项目将侧重于来自代表性不足群体或社会经济弱势背景的学生。该项目将在社区学院测试一种可扩展的研究实践模式，该模式有可能改善本科STEM教育，并促进多样化STEM劳动力的发展。洛杉矶城市学院(LACC)和南加州大学(USC)将调查接触到真实的研究经验，其特点是应用科学过程和科学方法，如何与社区学院STEM学生更高的学术成就和学位完成率相关联。为此，该项目将检验两个相关假设：(1)将真实的研究经验融入社区大学课堂和实验室课程将与提高学业成绩、坚持性和学位完成率相关；(2)参与社区学院层面的真实研究经验将与提高学业成绩、坚持性、完成学位和转到四年制大学相关。项目活动包括重新设计普通化学II和有机化学I和II课程的实验室课程，为完成有机化学课程的学生提供研究经验；以及评估LACC在STEM教育方面的机构和部门能力。南加州大学将为南加州大学的LACC学生提供为期10周的暑期研究经验，并衡量该项目的教学变化和研究暴露对学生成功和学位完成的影响，以评估该项目变化理论的有效性。该项目由NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持，该计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生的STEM教育的有效性。通过机构和社区转型路径，该计划支持创建、探索和实施有前景的实践和工具，以了解机构如何改变以更好地支持学生学习。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project aims to serve the national interest by investigating the relationships between community college students' participation in scientific research and their academic success and degree completion. Specifically, the project will evaluate the impacts of new research-oriented curricula, together with hands-on research experiences for community college students in the chemical sciences. These changes are expected to increase student engagement, retention, degree completion, and rate of transfer from community college. Specific aims are to (1) increase successful completion rates in General Chemistry and Organic Chemistry, (2) increase the representation of Latinx STEM students transferring to four-year universities, and (3) facilitate post-transfer success of students through supports including authentic research experiences, transfer workshops, and e-mentoring. The project will focus on students from underrepresented groups or socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds. The project will test a scalable model of research practice at the community college that has the potential to improve undergraduate STEM education and promote the development of a diverse STEM workforce.Los Angeles City College (LACC) and the University of Southern California (USC) will investigate how exposure to authentic research experiences, characterized by the application of the process of science and the scientific method, correlates with increased academic success and degree completion for community college STEM students. To that end, the project will test two related assumptions: (1) the integration of authentic research experiences into community college classroom and laboratory coursework will correlate with improved academic performance, persistence, and degree completion; and (2) participation in authentic research experiences at the community college level will correlate with improved academic performance, persistence, degree completion, and transfer to four-year universities. Project activities include redesign of laboratory curricula in General Chemistry II and Organic Chemistry I and II courses, providing research experiences for students who have completed an organic chemistry course; and assessing LACC’s institutional and departmental capacity with regard to STEM education. USC will provide 10-week summer research experiences for LACC students at USC and measure the impact of the project’s pedagogical changes and research exposure on student success and degree completion to evaluate the validity of the project’s theory of change. This project is supported by the NSF IUSE: EHR Program, which supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Institutional and Community Transformation track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools to understand how institutions change to better support student learning.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.